Enhanced employee protection in Govt. amendments

Associate Minister of Labour and Alliance
Industrial Relations Spokesperson Laila Harré is pleased
that the Government as a whole has agreed on amendments to
Rodney Hide’s Shop Trading Hours Bill. The amendments will
call for enhanced employee protections.

The Alliance will be voting against the bill
as a whole and against liberalisation of hours,“ said Ms
Harré.

“Our opposition to liberalisation is not limited to
concerns about the impact on workers’ and retailers’ choice.
It is also, and fundamentally, about the intrinsic value of
Christmas day, Easter Friday, Easter Sunday and ANZAC day as
days for non-work, non-commercial, community, family,
cultural and religious activities.”

“The Alliance has no
doubt that shop trading on any of these days will reduce
their current value and therefore indicate that those
supporting the change put a diminished value on this aspect
of those days as compared to ‘the right to shop’”.

“While
the best option for us is that the bill doesn’t proceed, our
backstop position is to ensure that the employee protections
within the bill are as strong as possible. That’s why we
have worked to get these amendments agreed to by the
Government as a whole and that’s why we will be supporting
them within the bill.”

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